AI Summary
5 min readThe Rebbe Who Disappeared and Came Back
The Yabloner Rebbe, Rabbi Yechezkel Taub, spent forty years living as George Nagel—a clean-shaven, non-observant businessman in Los Angeles who had no mezuzah on his door and no interest in giving blessings. Then, in his eighties, he grew back his beard, put on tefillin, and returned to the religious community he had abandoned. The story was almost entirely unknown until Rabbi Pinny Dunner brought it to light.
The Rise and Collapse of a Hasidic Vision
The Yabloner Rebbe was a young Hasidic leader in Yablona, a resort town near Warsaw. In the 1920s, he heard a speech from Rabbi Shia Shapira (known as the Admor HaChalutz), a Zionist Hasidic rebbe who encouraged aliyah. The Yabloner Rebbe was so moved that he stood up and declared that his entire community would move to Palestine. About 200 to 250 Hasidim followed him.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Sponsor Introduction** - Brief word from the sponsor, Magen David Adom.
- 2 (04:11) **Episode Introduction** - Host David Bashevkin introduces the topic of Teshuva (transformative religious change) and the story of the Yabloner Rebbe.
- 3 (05:09) **Opening Poem: "Failure"** - David reads a poem by Philip Schultz about failure, framing the episode's theme.
- 4 (07:18) **Introducing the Yabloner Rebbe** - Overview of the Rebbe's life story, from Hasidic leader to anonymous exile and eventual return.
- 5 (08:49) **Rabbi Pinny Dunner: The Story is Told** - Rabbi Dunner begins recounting the story, starting with a firsthand account of meeting the Rebbe when he was known as "George Nagel" in Los Angeles.
- 6 (11:55) **Hesitation and a Teacher's Counsel** - David explains his initial hesitation to share the story and shares a message from his teacher, Rav Moshe Weinberger, about the power of the Rebbe's return.
- 7 (19:53) **The Rebbe's Own Voice** - An archival interview clip of the Yabloner Rebbe (as George Nagel) begins, where he tells his story with noticeable omissions.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, originally released in 2021, we talk to Rabbi Pini Dunner and Rav Moshe Weinberger about the Yabloner Rebbe and his astounding story of teshuva.
The Yabloner Rebbe was a chassidishe rebbe who helped found Kfar Chassidim. He disappeared and went to Los Angeles, where he went off the derech, but he later returned to Judaism and Kfar Chassidim in a remarkable example of teshuva.
- Who was the Yabloner Rebbe?
- Why did he leave his faith?
- What inspired him to return?
References:
The God of Loneliness by Philip Schultz
The Amazing Return of the Yabloner Rebbe by Rabbi Pini Dunner
The Astonishing Story of the Yabloner Rebbe by Rabbi Pini Dunner
Mavericks, Mystics & False Messiahs by Rabbi Pini Dunner
Rabbi Pini Dunner Website
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